Iron Body Master, Arudo

"Both sides ready... 1! Begin!"

As Kuzan's voice fell, Arudo kicked off the ground. His massive body whipped up gusts of wind as he charged straight at Loa.

"Get sent flying, brat!"

"This guy specializes in hand-to-hand combat, huh? Tch, he'd better not have some weird Devil Fruit ability."

Facing Arudo head-on, Loa thought as he shifted his left foot forward and assumed the same charging stance. A layer of ice armor swiftly spread across his entire body, gleaming beneath the evening sun. His opponent was fast. Though not quite at the level of Shave, Loa was not confident he could dodge. He might even get ambushed by Arudo's long limbs while evading. So, he chose to take the hit head-on.

With a roar, Loa charged forward as well.

Kuzan gave a soft exclamation from the side, staring at Loa in surprise. "Does that guy have that much strength?"

"This kid's done for~"

"Trying to compete with Arudo in strength? This kid's got some ideas."

The other two Elite Camp members silently thought the same, ready to see how far Loa would be sent flying.

Bang!

Like two locomotives colliding, a deafening crash erupted across the field.

The group stared in shock at the black figure sent flying backward. It was actually Arudo!

However, Arudo did not fly very far. Within a single breath, he adjusted his posture, flipped over, and landed on the ground.

Unlike the others, Arudo did not find this strange in the slightest.

His opponent was not as strong as him!

That was the conclusion Arudo had reached during that brief exchange.

Although Loa was indeed very strong, he still could not compare to a naturally gifted martial arts master like Arudo.

As for why he had been sent flying, Arudo examined the suit of ice armor covering his opponent. At the instant of impact, ice spikes had extended from it and pierced into the ground, instantly locking Loa in place. The resulting impact was stronger than his own. It was like the locking bar on a catapult. After the throwing arm launched, it had to stop abruptly to convert inertia into the stone's force to the greatest extent possible.

But achieving that was difficult. The lateral pulling force generated by suddenly stopping at such extreme speed was not something an ordinary person could withstand.

As the air currents dispersed, Loa rubbed his shoulder and sucked in a breath of cold air. He felt as if he had slammed into an iron plate. The unyielding recoil struck him solidly, leaving his chest tight and heavy.

After moving his shoulder a little, he pulled the ice spear deeply embedded in the ground free. It had been the tool he used to stop instantly just now. Then he fixed his gaze on Arudo.

"That guy used Iron Body from the Six Powers just now, right? It actually had that kind of effect!"

Waving the sharp ice pillar in his hand, Loa crouched slightly, pushed off with his feet, and thrust the pillar straight at Arudo. Ice Dragon's Roar and Ice Dragon's Wing Attack took too long to charge. They were impossible to use in close combat like this.

Seeing Loa move, Arudo's hands turned pitch-black. The strange energy field made Loa glance sideways.

"Armament Haki!"

Clang!

A crisp metallic ring sounded as Arudo smashed the ice pillar into two with one punch. Without even looking, Loa released the broken pillar and ducked beneath Arudo's following roundhouse kick. At the same time, deep blue light flared from his right hand as he roared, "Ice Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Smack!

But Arudo's broad palm blocked the swift counterattack. Though huge, his reactions were not slow. That layer of black energy gave him confidence against any Devil Fruit ability.

However, he had miscalculated this time. Loa was not a Devil Fruit user. Furthermore, Ice Dragon's Iron Fist differed from Natsu's Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. It did not erupt upon impact to injure the enemy, but transformed into a drill that burrowed into the opponent's body upon contact and froze them from within.

It injured from the inside, not the outside.

The mistake in his information made Arudo suffer badly. The bone-piercing chill was not blocked by his Armament Haki. Instead, it gradually spread along his bones. He felt as if even his blood was beginning to freeze, stiffening his body.

Strike while the iron was hot—his days as a hunter on a deserted island had taught Loa that lesson deeply.

Using the momentum from his punch, Loa braced himself against Arudo's thigh. His body flipped upside down, and he kicked at Arudo's head. The blue stream of light trailing from his foot proved that this attack was still a Dragon Slayer skill.

"Ice Dragon's Hook Claw!"

Boom!

With just one kick, Loa sent Arudo's massive body flying!

Watching from afar, Kuzan nodded and commented, "Not bad. His moves have plenty of openings and no real structure, but he can seize the instant Arudo stiffens up and launch a skill without hesitation. That really is the instincts of a beast~"

The two who had fought earlier looked at him in shock. "Could Arudo lose, Admiral Aokiji?"

"Well~ It's about even."

The dust was scattered by a large hand.

Arudo shoved aside the broken bricks on top of him and rose from the damaged wall. Rubbing his numb arm, with a bruise on his forehead, he grinned broadly. "Hahaha, you brat! Didn't you eat dinner? With attacks like that, you could hit me as many times as you want and I still wouldn't be hurt!"

"It really is about even~" The Elite Camp members silently watched the scene.

Arudo's greatest weapon was neither his giant-like strength nor his somewhat developed Armament Haki, but the Six Powers technique he had trained to the utmost limit—Iron Body. Every Elite Camp member had learned the Six Powers, but limited by time, energy, and even talent, they usually chose only one or several techniques to specialize in.

Arudo specialized in Iron Body alone.

Since joining the Elite Camp two years ago, Arudo had been the weakest in the entire camp. Yet through his passion and talent for Iron Body, he had trained only this one move. Two years later, he had become one of the strongest members of the Elite Camp. Even Marine officers with weaker attack power could not break through his defense. He was hailed as the most gifted master of defense.

Since Loa's attacks could not break through his defense, the situation on the field really did not look good at the moment.

Loa himself was equally impressed. He understood the power of Ice Dragon Slayer Magic very well. Beyond its general destructive force, its main weapon was the extreme cold that entered the enemy's body, and it was exceptionally difficult to defend against.

This big guy in front of him had probably trained even his insides into an iron plate. Otherwise, he could never have resisted the cold invasion of Dragon Slayer Magic. He should have collapsed long ago with blue lips.

With that thought, Loa put in twelve hundred percent effort! Where else would he find such a qualified punching bag next time?

Taking a slight breath, dazzling blue light flared from his hand again. He slammed it onto the ground. This time, it was not Ice Dragon's Iron Fist, but—

"Ice Make: Icefield!"

Following Loa's movement, terrifying cold surged across the ground in every direction. Everywhere it reached instantly froze into a thick sheet of ice. Kuzan had been watching for fun from the side, but at the sight, he clicked his tongue and flashed onto a nearby rack.

With two swishes, the pair also landed beside him. Over there, the guy holding a katana drove his sword straight into the ground and balanced on the hilt with the tip of his foot, avoiding the freezing. An inexplicable force wrapped around the blade, keeping the cold at bay.

Because he was too close, Arudo's feet were directly frozen in place. But this was not Dragon Slayer Magic, merely ordinary Ice Make. The ice was only so hard. With a slight burst of strength, he broke free from the ice around his feet.

"Brat, are you trying to have a snowball fight?"

Hearing Arudo's taunt, Loa shook his head calmly and asked instead, "Big guy, do you know how to skate?"

"What?!"

Arudo's eyes narrowed as he stared in disbelief at Loa, who had already rushed in front of him. Blue light gathered around Loa's fist, reminding him of the agony from when the cold had entered his body earlier.

"Why is he so fast?"

Boom!

Loa threw a punch, then followed with a hooked kick and claw strikes, chaining attack after attack with delight.

Only then did Arudo realize that he could not keep his footing on the ice at all. He easily lost his balance, and Loa's barrage left him reeling. With ice skates beneath his feet, Loa spun and leaped around Arudo like a monkey teasing a bear.

"Damn brat! Don't get too full of yourself!"

After taking another punch to the nose, Arudo roared and stomped down hard, driving his feet directly into the ice. He spread his arms and caught Loa's attack.

Loa was not surprised by this. In close combat, even ten of him probably would not be a match for his opponent. It was perfectly normal for his attack to be caught.

"I'll pound you flat!"

Arudo roared as he brought down a fist. Armament Haki exuded icy killing intent in the cold wind. Loa gritted his teeth, and the ice armor around his body thickened further.

Pfft!

Arudo's punch was heavy. Loa felt his shoulder instantly go numb as he spat out a mouthful of dark blood.

Gritting his teeth, Loa went down with the force and smashed his fist viciously onto Arudo's instep.

Ice Dragon's Iron Fist!

He had been waiting for Arudo to voluntarily drive his feet into the ice. As long as he did, Loa could reinforce the ice with Dragon Slayer Magic. With the strength Arudo had shown during their earlier collision, the chances of him breaking free were infinitely close to zero!